After Rayne had left his body, the Nekrums’ grip over Montague’s mind was purged. He let go of the marble and suddenly became aware. He rose to his feet. “That wasn’t so bad,’ he said, dizzily. Then he passed out.
The troll, Grimm, came up from behind and caught him. “Got’cha this time,” he said with a proud smile.
Burton laughed. Drops of blood flew from his throat. Eggward came to his side. They both watched the marble turn to ash.
In the early morning sky above, the Nekrums’ ship looked like a comet as it fell into the milky pink horizon, a streak of smoke in its trail. Burton watched. It was beautiful, both the sight and the thought of what it meant. After suffering for generations, the world of Naan will know peace once more.
When the auburn moon crashed into the ocean, the earth quaked.
All around him, the last of the dead elders fell to the ground as if they just shut down. They were disconnected from their energy source. The mages lost their focus as if dazed. They didn’t even know what to do with the weapons in their hands, so they stopped fighting.
“The hybrids are all slain,” said Sir Simon in the distance. Soldiers cheered.
It was sad. But it was better that way, Burton thought. Those people couldn’t be cured. Their condition couldn’t be undone or reversed. Surely, the unused human parts of them had been either thrown into the river or used as food after their bodies had been ripped apart. Even if the hybrids had survived, they could never return to their families in their altered form.
For the first time, Burton witnessed Ikarus and Graleon soldiers standing together alongside the trolls and the mages, who were now free from the Nekrums’ influence, strolling peacefully, yet confused, on a land soaked in blood—the union Burton had always hoped he would see.
The venom was killing him fast, and he wanted to say goodbye to the world and people he’d spent five hundred years protecting.
Anna Lott rushed down from the old castle tower, nearly tripping down the moldy, cracked steps, after she’d seen a gargoyle fly straight into the neighboring tower, where more people were hiding. The monsters with leathery wings circled above like hawks, stalking them.
“Quiet,” she said softly to the handful of survivors that were following her. “Not a sound.” She thought if these gargoyles were anything like birds, then they might be able to hear even the tiniest whispers on the ground.
Anna wished that she had her flute.
More gargoyles joined in the attack. They crashed into buildings, crippling their bodies to topple them over. One after the other, they flew full speed to their deaths. The next target was the southwest tower of the castle, where Anna was hiding. The flying monsters hacked at the pinnacle, and from top to bottom, the castle collapsed piece by piece.
Anna led the people down the steps to the basement of the building. Rounding down the stairwell, a gargoyle broke through the stone wall, exposing the fleeing party. When it reached for her, she fell back, off the step, falling to the ground outside.
The gargoyle paid no interest in the people running down the stairs. It wanted her. When it got close, Anna recognized the face. Something familiar was under its scaly skin. It was the fisherman, Lief. He was deformed with claws for hands and talons for feet. He had literally turned into the monster that he truly was, she thought.
She ran through a maze of collapsed stones as the monster, Lief, hunted her. It broke through the rubble and followed her scent.
In the courtyard there was a fountain that held two feet of water. Slowly, she submerged herself, careful not to ripple the surface. She stopped holding her breath and inhaled. The stagnant water was thicker than the sea and the rivers and harder to breathe. There were more particles moving in and out of her lungs. But there was at least enough oxygen for a short visit. She felt around at the algae-covered bottom and found a twisted iron rod, perhaps a poker from an old fireplace. It didn’t matter what it was, only that it could puncture skin.
Anna could see Lief’s deformed shadow flying across the entire courtyard, swooping down to investigate on each pass. He went back and forth a few times before he stopped and hovered above her in the fountain.
She clasped her hands and prayed. To defend herself, she knew she had to kill him. But it wasn’t even Lief anymore. He was a monster.
Finally, he dove down at her as she lay under the water. Anna lifted the rusty rod and held it up as straight and as tight as she could, piercing Lief through the mouth and out the belly in his descent. His body and wings went limp. For as rotten of a man she knew Lief to be, she still felt sorry for what had happened to him.
A bright flash in the distant sky distracted the last of the flying monsters. Like moths, they all flew to the light.
Then the earth quaked. Suddenly, Anna felt a tremor in her heart, fearing for Rayne’s life.
Beyond the ruins of Illyrium, there were bodies of men littered across the once grassy landscape. She walked through the blood-stained fields of cleaved limbs and guts. The foul smells made her spew. But the fight was over. Her people had won.
The surviving mages were surrounded by Ikarus and Graleon soldiers, corralled like cattle. And they weren’t even resisting. They just roamed around as if they didn’t understand what was happening. Anna noticed that most of the people around, including the Resistance soldiers were looking into the sky, behind her. When she turned around, she saw a streak of smoke cutting through scattered clouds down to the sea horizon. The auburn moon was gone, and the powder glow of the white moon shined bright.
Anna kept walking, but she recognized no one. The dire screams of suffering men, crying out from all around her, left a pit in her stomach. Perturbed by the torturous sounds and putrid smells she wandered the battlegrounds fighting the urge to spew again until she saw the giant cat, Apollo, lying in the middle of a scattered huddle of men. Anna ran to her, but when she neared, she realized what Apollo was doing.
Indrid lay dead and the cat was licking his wounds—wounds that would never heal. Apollo’s melancholy purr vibrated the ground.
Anna’s body went numb. She wanted to run to her stepbrother, but the weight of her pain was too heavy. So, as Apollo watched with a keen eye, she moseyed over to him and fell by his side. She held the Graleon count in her arms and touched his bearded face. Her affection for Indrid surfaced. She knew that Indrid had loved her more than a sibling. And she felt bad for breaking his heart; not loving him in that way in return. Now, he was in a place where hearts can’t be broken. He was at peace and she would miss him dearly.
“History will remember his courage. I doubt it not,” Sir Simon said approaching. “Thank you, my count—”
Apollo roared and swatted at the knight when Simon came close. Graleon soldiers and knights took up arms, pointing their bloody steel. Maul watched carefully from a distance, preparing to pounce.
Anna yelled at the men, “No!” Then she turned to the cat, “Apollo! No!”
The cats reposed.
“Stop!” Simon said to his soldiers. “She won’t hurt me. Our count died saving my life while riding this cat. Leave her be; both of them. From this day forth, these cats will be treated with the highest respect.”
Immediately, the soldiers lowered their weapons.
“I want his body taken back to Ikarus,” Anna said.
“Of course, my lady,” said Simon.
They heard a congested moan coming from behind them. Burton was resting against the chest of a dead werewolf, bloody and pallid. Anna and Simon rushed to him.
“Burton, are you all right?” asked Anna.
“I’m just dandy,” said Burton. He tried to laugh, but choked instead.
She knew his humor was an act to relieve her worry. “I haven’t seen Montague. Have you?”
“He’s fine.”
“Where is Rayne?” Anna asked.
Burton shook his head. “I’m so sorry, my dear. I wasn’t strong enough to complete my mission. He did what I couldn’t.”
An
na sank to her knees. The hopes and dreams that she had fantasized about while waiting in the high tower, cold and scared, were crushed.
“He died to save this world, to save you, Anna. The love you shared within the little time you had together will be with you forever…in here,” he said, pointing to her heart. “Your child will remind you of that for the rest of your life.”
“My child?” Anna asked, sniffling. “Rayne’s child?” She knew that the wizard would know this but was stunned at the fact that she had gotten pregnant after the first time she had ever had sex.
“Indeed,” said Burton. “A piece of him will live on.”
Anna looked to her belly and touched it. The sensation was uplifting knowing that another lifeform, one she’d created with the man she loved, was growing inside her.
“You are the bravest woman I know, Anna Lott of M—” Burton stopped, “—of Ikarus. You may have single-handedly won the war. If you hadn’t gone to the Mern city to convince your mother to fight, we might not be standing here.”
She regarded the trifling amount of soldiers that had survived.
“I can tell you that the monsters would have certainly overcome the Resistance if the Merns hadn’t collapsed the majority of ships,” he said. “Rayne would have been forced to use apocalyptic forces to overcome them, destroying a vast portion of this precious world.”
My mother, she thought. Anna didn’t know if Glassinger was dead or alive or whether she’d see her again or not.
“Unfortunately, my dear, she is gone,” said Burton.
Anna was flabbergasted. How did he know what I was thinking?
“I can see the wonder in your eyes,” Burton said. “Glassinger loved you, Anna; enough to die for you.”
It was a wonderful sentiment. Anna was touched to know that her mother and others from Mern had given their lives for her and the ones she loved. Certainly, she would return to the underwater city to personally thank Mern for their duties and give condolences for their losses.
Anna kissed Burton on the forehead. “Thank you for all you’ve done,” she said. “I’ll never forget you.”
Walking away, she pressed her hand against her belly. The thought of having a child gave her hope—someone to live for.
AT THE end of a successful mission, liberating Planet Naan from the Nekrum’s chokehold, Burton Lang bathed in relief. The slow pulse of death was of no concern.
Sir Simon, the legendary dark knight, who’d sailed to the edge of the world, stood before him. “Indrid Cole didn’t make it. I thought you should know.”
“Then, in a few moments, I’ll be thanking him for saving you,” said Burton.
“I know who you are,” said Simon. “She told me all about you.”
Burton started choking. His heart pounded harder when he thought about precious memories of Simon’s mother.
“Easy,” Simon said, taking a knee.
“I loved your mother, and you. But I was banished when you were a baby—for reasons contradictory to what your priests will tell you. I didn’t get to raise you as my own.” Burton struggled to breathe. “At the very moment I first held you, I felt the depths of human emotion. You were so innocent. You completely depended on me and your mother for food, warmth, love. It was then that I understood why one would die for another, a human decision that I once couldn’t comprehend. Thank you for that, my son.”
Simon took him by his hand and looked him in the eyes. “There is no need to apologize. When I was young I imagined meeting you. I watched other children dress up and pretend to be knights and wizards, sparring in the streets. Knowing that my father was a wizard, a real wizard, made me feel special,” he said. “It gave me courage. It made me fearless. Just knowing allowed me to become what I am today. My mother told me stories about how you built the three original kingdoms by waving a stick. I was always so proud of my father who I never met.”
“A stick!” Burton laughed. “That’s what she called my wand. She said my true power comes from within my heart. It’s only a stick, she said.” He studied Simon. “My son,” he said. “The great explorer.”
“Either I’m going delusional or our maps of Naan are wrong. There are of dozens of islands, not charted,” said Simon with a dumbfounded look on his face.
“Hundreds,” Burton said. “The Nekrums forced Man to inhabit the three that they controlled; Illyrium, Grale, and Mern. They decimated the rest with their technology, drying up the lands so no living animal could survive. Now, these lands will return to the lush landscapes they once were. Your people can grow and expand the colonies.”
“And the wall?” Simon asked. “The seas are bound by ice and the deep freeze goes on as far as the eye can see, into complete darkness. Did they do that as well?”
“No,” said Burton with a smile. “Keep sailing, Sir Simon of Grale, and you will soon discover the creator’s fingerprint.”
He tried to relax and regain his focus. There were things Burton needed to say to people before he died. “Please,” he said to Simon. He pointed to Demitri, who was sitting against a tree, crying. “I wish to speak with my old friend.”
Simon helped his father over to Demitri.
“You have your mother’s skin,” said Burton. He shook Simon’s hand. “Good journey.”
THE GHOST within Demitri Von Cobb had retreated.
He sat under a burned, oak tree with a split trunk, pulled out a blade from his belt, and held it against his throat. Since his hand was shaking, he knew that the slice would not be a clean cut. He would need to make it forceful to ensure a quick death. He didn’t have any of the caustic powders he’d given the host’s mages to use as weapons left. Just a spoonful would have made his death easy and painless.
Demitri believed that he’d done too many wicked things—taken too many lives, tortured too many innocent souls—and had no right to keep living. He wept like a frightened child.
Without any thoughts or last words he slid the knife across, but when he did, nothing happened—his skin remained unscathed. To his surprise the sharp, steel blade he had been holding was now a smooth piece of wood.
At first Demitri was confused by the illusion. But he’d seen his old sensei transform many material objects before.
A bunch of leaves that had fallen from the oak crackled under careful footsteps. Someone sat against the opposite side of the tree trunk that Demitri was resting upon.
“This colony needs you,” Burton said, raspingly, from the other side of the half-uprooted trunk.
“Look what I’ve done! How can I live with myself knowing the atrocities that I have committed?” Demitri asked. “This thing that was inside of me, it spoke to me. It controlled my every move.”
“Exactly! That wasn’t you, Demitri. You were possessed—controlled. The real you had nothing to do with this. Do you hear me?” the wizard asked.
Demitri couldn’t answer. He was swallowing tears, still hurting from the torture of possession. “I know now how dangerous my work was. You warned me. They picked it out of my mind. They already knew most of what I discovered. But then they showed me horrible things—incredible things—but horrible…” He stared off, thinking about the innovative tools and machinery that the Nekrums had helped him create. But their purpose, to tear beasts and men apart, was evil. “Burton, I can’t believe what I’ve done.”
“I’ve worked beside you for so long and you’ve always put your people before yourself,” said Burton. “You never did anything wrong and I apologize if that was the impression that I ever gave. I was only trying to protect your work and keep it safe and secure. You will do wonderful things for this civilization. You asked me before who I’d pass Vandagelle on to. When I wouldn’t answer you, you’d get mad, assuming I’d choose Montague.”
The memory of their edgy relationship made Demitri smile. They loved each other like brothers and argued like brothers. He found humor in their spats. “But you did choose Montague.”
“As the true king of Men, I wanted Montague t
o be raised fair, without royal niceties, so he’d grow up humbled. When a king can put himself in a peasant’s position, he can make the decisions needed to turn the world into a better place for everyone. You were to take my place, at his side as headmaster of sciences,” Burton said.
Demitri groaned. “I’ve had a terrible go at headmaster already.”
“No. You didn’t.”
“But I don’t have your power,” Demitri said. “I can’t do the things that you’ve done. I’m not an angel.”
“No. You are human. Together, you are all more powerful than any angel or demon. The Nekrums suppressed human civilization from realizing certain sciences for generations. I couldn’t let that go on any longer. So I intervened, but no more. You must lead them forward.”
“What if I can’t? What if I’m not strong enough?” Demitri cried. He’d accumulated so much doubt in himself.
Burton held out Vandagelle. “She will help you.”
Now, teetering on the edges of sanity, one of Demitri’s greatest desires was offered to him. Any scientist in the world would die to know the wand’s secrets. But the stigma of his detestable reputation had cut deep. He now believed that he wasn’t worthy. “I can’t.”
But Burton insisted. “You are the only one who can reverse engineer it.” He twisted the wand and it came apart in the middle. Like a thick rope, a series of wires that connected each end separated from each other. “Do you have a parchment and pen?” he asked jokingly.
“My brain is taking notes,” Demitri softly chuckled.
“The wand consists primarily of silica, titanium, and electrical charges you will come to call, electricity. From that, you can build a sonic compressor and a transducer. Once you get that far, the rest is up to you to figure out. There is much more than mechanical parts involved in Vandagelle’s power. She is alive.”
Under a Veil of Gods Page 28
